Will Israel Strike Syria for President Obama?

BBSNews 2013-05-15 — By Michael Hess. The Daily Beast points towards a New York Times Report proclaiming that Israel may attack Basher al Assad’s Syria and bring down his government if he uses proxies or outright retaliates for Israel’s unprovoked attacks on his country. Syria is embroiled in an increasingly bloody civil war in the midst of which, Israel attacked twice in recent weeks purportedly to keep weapons out of the hands of Hezbollah.

The problem is that regardless of the pretext, Israel’s attacks are an overt act of war against the state of Syria; as odious and cruel as Syria under Assad is. And in that context, not only are Israel’s actions an overt act of war, the tiny client state of the United States attacked from a third country: Lebanon. There’s been no real word yet how Russia feels about it’s client state of Syria being attacked in this way.

Except that apparently there is feverish overt and behind the scenes machinations working to prevent Russia from providing “game changing” S-300 anti-aircraft capabilities to Syria because of course that would seriously hamper any effort by either Israel to attack further or the possible imposition of a no-fly zone over Syria possibly through a combination NATO/Turkey/US coalition.

This is all done against a back-drop of the fact that Israel illegally holds and has “annexed” the Golan Heights, and a whole host of groups and Assad’s Syria have now come out and said they are ready to wage war against Israel, for the Golan, and they are ramping up for a fight on the southern front.

It remains to be seen what the Obama administration knows or has engineered behind the scenes. But using the Golan as a pretext, the United States may well be content in letting Israel “protect itself” or exercise “self-defense”, of land that it does not legally own and never will own, and it would surely be convenient to let Israel carry the water.

It would relieve the Obama administration of yet another headache what with its full plate of made up “scandals” fomented by a thoroughly unhappy and frustrated ‘bagger led GOP and it would give them and Faux News a pretty ‘shiny object’ to focus on for at least a little while.

And Israel needs a pretext to give the smack down to those pesky ICC seeking, Palestinian State wanting, Nakba mourning Palestinians. It’s a tailor made excuse all the way around.

And what’s a few more dead bodies for either side, either the US or Israel? It’s just Syria after all. There’s not even a thought of Lebanese state sovereignty; and Syria’s civil war is getting so devastatingly brutal who would care if Assad is removed by a country that wants to hold onto illegally gotten booty? And the Palestinians they always get screwed anyway.

However, with both China and Russia playing roles this time, there is no sure outcome as there was say during Cast Lead in Gaza. Or Israel staging attacks on Syria using Lebanon’s airspace and attacking from Lebanon’s airspace.

This time geopolitics in the region and beyond could be so seriously destabilized in ways that could be so fraught with negative blowback that it is impossible to game out the consequences. Regardless, the United States will be blamed for the actions of Israel.

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I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

"A census of Palestine conducted by the Mandatory government on 23 October 1922. Population figures in the census featured a breakdown by district of residence, religion, language and age.

The total population of Palestine was given as 757,182, of whom 590,890 (78%) were Muslims (“Mohammedans”), 83,794 (11%) Jews, 73,024 (9%) Christians and 9,474 others. The population of Jerusalem was given as 62,578, of whom 13,413 were Muslims, 33,971 Jews, 14,699 Christians and 495 others." From the report:

"In accordance with the provisions of the Proclamation of 1st September 1922, published in the Official Gazette of the same date, a census of Palestine was held on the night of the twenty-second -- twenty-third of October, 1922."

"(1) To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of the late war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world, there should be applied the principle that the well-being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilisation and that securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied in this Covenant...

(4) Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory..."

-- Avalon Project at Yale Law School, "The Covenant of the League of Nations, Including Amendments adopted to December, 1924, June 28th, 1919," Lillian Goldman Law Library. (accessed December 2nd, 2016).